The three expat markets
The Gulf (Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, flydubai): tax-free salary, provided or allowance-covered housing, schooling support, big fleets and fast widebody time. Asia (Japan, Korea, China, SE Asia contracts): the highest headline captain pay in the world in some cases, often on commuting rosters, with demanding screening and stricter sim culture. Contract flying via agencies (cargo, ACMI, seasonal): maximum pay-per-month flexibility, minimum stability. Each suits a different decade of life.
Reading a package like an accountant
Compare net packages, never gross. A "smaller" Gulf salary with zero income tax, free housing and paid schooling routinely beats a larger European gross after tax and rent. Check: housing allowance vs provided compound, education allowance per child and its cap, loss-of-licence insurance, pension or end-of-service gratuity, leave travel tickets, and — critically — your home country's tax rules on foreign income. Some passports (notably US) are taxed on worldwide income wherever you fly from.
Rosters, commuting and the life cost
Ask serving pilots about days off at home, not days off on paper. Gulf widebody flying means heavy nights and circadian chaos but you live where you're based; Asian commuting contracts (4 weeks on / 2 off patterns) let your family stay home at the price of you being gone. Divorce and burnout rates in expat aviation are real conversation topics — go in with eyes open and revisit the decision every few years as kids and seniority change the equation.
Before you sign
Talk to at least two line pilots currently at the operator (forums and LinkedIn make this easy). Read the bond and resignation terms — some contracts hold final salary or gratuity against notice periods. Verify the regulator under which you'll be licensed and what converting back home requires. And keep your home-country licence, medical and recency alive if there's any chance you'll return: the cost is small, the option value is enormous.